A single crystal of an oxide high-critical temperature superconductor has a crystal structure in which conductive layers and non-conductive layers are alternately stacked and the layers form an intrinsic Josephson junction. In recent years, single-crystal switching element devices using the intrinsic Josephson effect have been proposed. The single-crystal switching element devices, which are of a new type, are one-hundredth the size of known Josephson junction devices and have a switching speed that is 100 times higher than that of the known devices. The new devices are presumed to have a high operating frequency of several THz (terahertz).
In a submicron crystal element including a Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 acicular crystal, superconducting single electron tunneling effect that a pair of electrons passes in the crystal has been currently observed. In order to achieve this effect, the element must operate at liquid helium temperature (4.2 K). When crystals in which the number of layers in a unit cell is about 1000 are used, it is presumed that superconductive single electron pair elements operating at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) can be achieved.
In order to achieve these elements, crystals having no defect or few defect must be used. At the present, an acicular crystal of a Bi oxide superconductor has the highest performance. The oxide superconductor has two types of crystal structure: a Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8 (Bi-2212) crystal structure having a superconducting critical temperature of about 85 K and a Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 (Bi-2223) crystal structure having a superconducting critical temperature of about 110 K. In research and development, acicular crystals having the Bi-2212 crystal structure, of which the growth can be achieved, have been used. The inventors have succeeded in growing the acicular crystals having the Bi-2212 crystal structure and extremely high crystallinity using a powder compact without performing a quenching operation and amorphizing operation, wherein the powder compact has nominal composition of growing the Bi-2212 acicular crystals and contains an element for reducing the melting point. The inventors have filed a patent application for the technique (Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-38170).
For the acicular crystals, the Bi-2223 crystal structure having a superconducting critical temperature of about 110 K, which is much higher than a liquid nitrogen temperature of 77 K, is extremely advantageous in view of practical use as compared with the Bi-2212 crystal structure having a superconducting critical temperature of about 85 K. However, the acicular crystals that have been obtained only have the Bi-2212 crystal structure and the growth of acicular crystals having the Bi-2223 crystal structure have not succeeded.